I solve throat and voice problems from the viewpoint of a kineticist.

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Monthly Archives: July 2015

You have a hoarse voice when you shout or produce a loud voice, this is because the air leaks out after the vocal folds vibrate excessively. Breathing is a common underlying reason why a loud voice results in a hoarse voice.
There are two reasons for the above issue, they are as follows:
(1)The vocal folds are easy to get tired and turn outward
(2)The breathing action is too strong
If you have (1), you have to strengthen the vocal cord muscles. These muscle are not easy to train, because you can’t control the vocal cord muscles consciously. Strengthening these muscles can be done through routine practice and training.
The vocal cord muscles usually move when vocalizing, and you have to have a proper condition to be able to move the vocal cord muscles easily.
If you have(2), please try to control the breathing quantity when exhaling air.
Having a large lung capacity does have an advantage in singing, but quantity of breathing is actually more important.
Large strong voice production does not necessarily need a large lung capacity. However, you do have to gain your voice in the resonance chamber to make a loud voice.
Please practice, and produce a strong voice in your resonance chamber.

The top 3 conditions of a good singer are as follows:
i: The status of the musculus extrinsic laryngis is soft
ii: Abundant and thick vocal cord mucosa
iii: Taking breaths properly
One in a thousand people have this condition innately, and those kind of people progress quickly when singing.
Of course, you can acquire the above 3 conditions if you train.
Please don’t give up.

Note1: You can get a flexible musculus extrinsic laryngis by stretching. Making good vocal cord mucosa can be attained by improving blood circulation of the superior laryngeal artery and also by taking a hyaluronan, vitamin A and B2. Finally, learning how to take breaths properly can be achieved through training and practicing routine techniques with a competent vocal coach.

Note2: If I had to mention one more important condition to add to the above top 3 conditions, that would be a good ear for listening. Recognizing good music and having an accurate ear for it is very important. This is because in order to train and make improvements you need to be able to duplicate sounds from just hearing music or by reading sheet music. A good ear also assists in you own judgments in training and vocal performances.

If you are routinely training in vocalizing and you still cannot let out a high-pitched voice or make noticeable progress in such, it might be that your cricothyroid articulation is not moving correctly or that you have subluxation of the cricothyroid articulation.

Note1：The cricothyroid articulation has to move both the left and right sides simultaneously. Therefore, if the size or angle of inferior horn of the thyroid cartilage is different, or there are extreme variations in size between the right and left sides of the glenoid cavity of cricoid cartilage, then the vocal fold cannot extend properly due to an unbalanced movement of muscles. This unbalanced movement of the muscles is the underlying reason why a person cannot let out a high-pitched voice. many failed attempts of trying to reach the high pitch or register can and will end in the straining of muscles surrounding the vocal cord, as well as make your throat get tired easily.

Note2:People cannot realize by themselves, if they have a malfunctioning cricothyroid articulation or the subluxation of cricothyroid articulation. This is because there is generally no pain or observable symptoms to identify those issues.

Note3:At My Voice Care Salon we have the ability to run tests which check how your cricothyroid articulation moves, by means of using a video recording device which focuses on the cricoid cartilage in the front of the cervical vertebrae.

There are three conditions to meet in acquiring a clear high-pitched voice.
i:Required to improve vibrating the vocal cord mucosa
ii: Necessary to maintain a good balance of inhalation and exhalation
iii:Possess the ability to vertically move the pharyngeal cavity acurrately

I’ll introduce how to get the above condition as follows. Matching up by order
i:LDP has to be fixed by increasing blood circulation and extending the space between the thyroid cartilage and the hyoid bone.
ii:Improve breathing by means of breathing exercise memorization training
iii:Acquire flexibility in the soft tissues of the hyoid bone and tone up the muscles attaching to the hyoid bone.
The above conditions will make your throat have the best status possible.

There are variations of suitable voices for opera, rock, jazz, folk, ballads, gospel or pop…
At Aida Voice Care Salon we can know whether your throat is suitable for singing many different music genres such as opera, rock, jazz, pop, etc. This is determined by an evaluation. Checking the shape, size, and the visible angles of the muscles of the throat. Of course, you can sing any music genre for personal preference, or fun even if your voice is suitable for other music. For professional career singers, it is really best to stick with the genres and styles you are suitable for. This is because striving to sing a genre that hits fairly high notes or expels breaths for extended periods of time requires specific shape conditions of the throat’s structure, which is decided through genetic makeup.
Keeping kindness in consideration to a vocalists, respectively there are no relative merits about vocalization, it would be better to vocally match up the genre with a genre suitable/compatible singer.
Please relax and let your voice out with your favorite style and you will be able to master your best vocalizing for you.

Note1:The following matters are most people’s concerns, and yes these issues will interfere with your natural and daily vocalization.
(1)Stiff muscles around the larynx
(2)Hypertonic phonation
(3)LDP
You need the physical healing to fix the above issues.

Note2:Please ask me by contacting my Voice Care Salon in Tokyo, if you want to know what kind of music genres are suitable for your voice, or any form of voice care treatment. Set up an appointment by phone, or through email.

Does it take you a lot of time to warm-up your voice? Ten to twenty minutes is the average length of time it takes most people. The voice needs to warm-up. A warm-up is commonly done before singers sing in a performance, or in advance for public speakers who use their voices for long periods of time. If you take too long to warm-up your voice prior to a vocal performance, the reason is probably because you are doing too many exercises or the exercise are too long in length. Breathing, stretching, drinking, and a run through of the scales from low to high are just some examples. If you take a lot of time to warm-up your voice before singing, your muscles may become too hard around the throat area. Specifically if you warm-up your voice for more than one hour, the throat will definitely be tired before you even start singing or speaking.
Vocalization is operated by the movements of the musculus extrinsic laryngis. You don’t need extreme muscle strength to produce a loud voice, because the volume of the voice is not proportional to the momentum of the musculus extrinsic laryngis.The 5 factors of Creating Voice

Note1:If you get tired to sing a song really early after starting, your musculus extrinsic laryngis might be hard. The reason why is low or poor blood circulation due to the stiffened muscles. If you have poor blood flow to the muscles relevant to vocalizing, then enough oxygen and nutrition will not be carried or delivered to those muscles.
The lesser horn of the cartilage is more than likely pressured due to LDP (larynx deep position) when opening the glottis, causing air to leak and making it hard to control the voice. Dry vocal mucosa also contributes to this status, resulting in having a problem with falsettos. Proper density and moisture of the throat from the vocal mucosa is necessary, so always be aware if your throat is dry when you are singing. Muscle power is being used every time the glottis opens and closes, and excessively doing this action too much during a warm-up will cause the muscles to tire around throat easily. When you warm-up, warm-up slowly and in moderation. Even the slightest form of excessiveness when warming up can result in negative changes to your sound and throat muscles.

The following picture is of bone conduction headphones, the brand name is : AUDIOBONE FIT

This headphone does not use the longitudinal waves in the air. The electrical signal is converted to vibrations which conduct around the cochlea, via the temporal bone.
You can really feel the sound conducting through your bones when using these headphones.
However, in my opinion … there is not enough sound pressure, and the bass sound is not so strong. Also, the richness of sound is limited when using bone conduction headphones.
I did put high-end headphones over the bone conduction headphones to listen to the music. I felt a sense of depth in sound. I could even imagine the size of the stage, the position of the singer, and was able to feel like the music was just like a real concert through the headphones.
However, the sound was accurate in overlapping with the vibrations.

Note1:If the bone conduction headphones were to be made for vocalization, it would have to conduct around the styloid process.
The stylopharyngeus muscle and the stylohyoid muscle attach to the styloid process to suspend the larynx.
The direct conduction would make these muscle move easily, and I believe it would result in a positive effect for the voice.

I used FOSTEX TH-900 for test,and this headphone is really able to duplicate the natural sounds.